2. Medieval: Total War.
2.1 Spearmen
*Feudal sergeants
*Chivalric sergeants
*Gothic sergeants
*Italian light infantry
*Muwahid foot soldiers
*Nubian spearmen
*Order foot soldiers
*Saracen infantry
*Spearmen
2.2 Archers and ranged units
2.3 Swordsmen
2.4 Axemen
2.5 Pikemen
2.6 Polearms
2.7 Barbarians and Religious Fanatics
2.8 Peasants
2.9 Knights
2.10 Heavy Cavalry
2.11 Missile Cavalry
2.12 Light Cavalry
2.13 Camels
2.14 Naptha and Javelin
2.15 Artillery

2. 1 Spearmen.

The spear units are the backbone of most early armies and they continue to be useful when other, more advanced units come into play. All spear-armed units get a bonus when they are in tight, ordered ranks. The bonus is +1 defence and  +1 charge for each supporting rank and +1 to attack for a second supporting rank. A supporting rank is simply the rank behind the one at the front, which is doing all the fighting. You can tell when a man in the rear ranks is giving support; he will play his fighting animation even though he is not engaged in combat. A spearman can only get support from the two ranks directly behind him so there is no reason to deploy spears in ranks thicker than four (one at the front, two to support and one to supply reinforcements so the unit can take losses without losing effectiveness). Spearmen are best left in hold formation as this forces them to maintain their supportive ranks and keeps their bonus intact, as well as bestowing another bonus to defence at the expense of a small (mostly unimportant) penalty to attack. Trees disrupt the formation causing the rank bonus to apply unevenly (some men will still get support while others will be isolated) so you should endeavour to keep spears out of trees. Moving for long distances or running will also disrupt the spears formation so you should try to move them slowly and in several stages to give them time to re-form. When spearmen are placed on hold position they keep their formation much better and can consequently survive combat much better. Therefore you shouldn’t worry about charging your enemy, instead halt slightly in front of them, go to hold position and wait for them to charge you. This is even easier on defence; just wait for the enemy to come to you. Spear units have little to gain by charging (there are some exceptions noted in the detailed unit analysis below) and much to gain by holding their position. Spears need to engage the enemy head on; if they are flanked or attacked from behind their formation quickly falls apart, making them extremely vulnerable. Sword armed units kill spearmen very quickly so try to keep them away from your spears, however if you cannot avoid it your spears will be able to hold out for a short time, giving you the chance to send aid. For the most part you will be using spears to pin an enemy unit while you use more effective ones to do the actual killing, although some spearmen can attack effectively (again these units are noted below). All spear-armed units get a bonus of +1 attack and +4 defence when they are facing cavalry; it is this unique bonus that makes them so effective when faced with mounted troops (both horses and camels).  

Spear units are best at: Holding a front line from which your other units can operate (e.g. cavalry sheltering behind the spears before charging out to attack and then retreating behind the spears to rest and regroup.), protecting archers and other more vulnerable units, receiving charges – especially cavalry charges, killing cavalry, pinning an enemy in place ready for another attack, delaying the enemy while you fight elsewhere, holding an important location (e.g. a bridge or a breach in a castle wall), and adding cheap, capable bulk to an army.

For a more in-depth explanation of why I don’t think charging spears is worthwhile in most situations read appendix 5 at the bottom of this guide. You don’t need to read it to understand tactics, it is mostly for the benefit of number liking people and those who want to know the whys and wherefores of everything.

M1

M2

Images M1 and M2:This unit of spears is in excellent order and can fight with maximum efficiency.

M3

Image M3:This unit of spears is so disordered most men will not receive the rank bonus. This is a disaster in the making.


THE UNIT STATS IN THIS SECTION DO NOT CONTAIN THE RANK BONUS, YOU WILL HAVE TO ADD THAT YOURSELF!

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Feudal sergeants.
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence –1 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 200 Support cost 62

Feudal sergeants are solid spearmen with pretty average statistics. They represent a noticeable improvement on the basic spearman and serve well in the early period (1088-1205). Because their defence and armour stats are fairly low they can die quite quickly. They have good morale which stops them fleeing in terror after a few losses and enables them to work in morale damaging circumstances (e.g. when they are under missile fire or outnumbered). Feudal sergeants have a large shield that protects them from missile fire and adds slightly to their defence. When more advanced sergeant types (Chivalric and Gothic) become available you can still get some use out of Feudal sergeants. Because they have higher morale than Chivalric sergeants and are faster than Gothic sergeants Feudal sergeants can make reasonable attack troops. They won’t do much damage compared to more specialist troops but they will be able to tie up enemy reinforcements (circle your feudal sergeants around the enemy line and attack the rearguard), keep a persistent attack on a flank (send them to the flank and have them hold position, forcing the enemy to fight them for a long time under morale harming conditions) and lead suicide mission that require something tougher than peasants. They have a large shield.

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Chivalric sergeants.
Charge 5 Attack –1 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 300 Support cost 62

Chivalric sergeants are very tough spearmen; they have plenty of armour and defence as well as a big shield and the spear rank bonus. It takes a lot to kill Chivalric sergeants because they are only really vulnerable to swordsmen and armour piercing troops and even against these troops Chivalric sergeants can keep going for a long time. Arrows are not very effective against this unit - they have too much armour, only ranged units with armour piercing capabilities (e.g. longbow men, javelins and crossbows etc) can do much damage. Chivalric sergeants have low morale but this is not as big a problem as it may appear. As long as you are using the spearmen properly the only things to impact morale should be casualties, missile fire and routing friendly units. Because chivalric sergeants are so tough they die slowly, often meaning they are on equal footing with Feudal sergeants and their higher morale and greater casualties. Missile fire only causes a morale penalty when it kills a man in the unit; since most non-armour piercing missiles glance off the armour the penalty often only applies when armour-piercing units are firing, and chivalric sergeants still have good protection (the large shield) from armour piercing missiles. Finally if your army starts to rout your spearmen are probably right in the thick of the fighting so they would join the rout anyway. The only real problem with chivalric sergeants is the era in which they appear, after 1205 (the high era) spearmen are less useful because polearm troops become more common. Polearm troops don’t get rank bonuses or defence bonus when against cavalry but they do get an attack bonus vs cavalry and they all possess armour-piercing attacks. This means that polearm troops will rip through cavalry like there’s no tomorrow, taking one of the spearmen’s major jobs in the process. You will still need chivalric sergeants to make up part of your front line but you will be using them less than before. They have a large shield.

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Gothic sergeants.
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence 5 Armour 5 Speed 4, 8, 9 Morale 2 Cost 350 Support cost 62

Gothic sergeants are the best-protected spearmen in the game, they have the highest defence and armour and they still have the large shields. This massive quantity of armour weighs them down, making them the slowest spearmen around. This lack of speed makes it harder to use them on the offensive but doesn’t really matter if you are defending since the enemy must come to you. They are even more invulnerable to non-armour piercing arrows than chivalric sergeants, but once again armour piercing missiles will do some damage. Gothic sergeants are still vulnerable to swordsmen but since there is no new sword unit available in Late (1321) they will mostly be fighting outdated swordsmen like chivalric men at arms. This does improve their chances of survival, although they will still lose eventually (if everything is equal or they only have a small bonus). Armour piercing melee units like billmen are the bane of gothic sergeants because the high armour value of the gothic sergeants gives a larger boost to the armour piercing effect. Gothic sergeants also have more competition because Pikemen become available in the late era and they can perform similarly to spearmen. So in the end gothic sergeants may be the best of the spearmen but it is rather unlikely that you will ever need (or want) to use them in large numbers. They have a large shield but it only has a 0.5 modifer.  

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Italian light infantry.
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 400 Support cost 62

Italian light infantry are available in early but they are just like an upgraded version of chivalric sergeants. Whenever you get the chance to use this unit (either by playing as the Italians or via mercenaries) in early you should take it because they are simply devastating in early – nothing can match them. When the clock hits 1205 and the high era units become available Italian infantry looses some of its shine because the competition is on a more even footing. This doesn’t mean that Italian infantry becomes obsolete; it means that they go from being outstanding to being very good. Italian infantry are capable of doing any of the tasks listed in the spears introduction and they can do them all well. In early it is quite reasonable to use them to attack by flanking and their charge should be used on occasion because the individual soldiers are strong enough to fight on their own if the formation breaks up. After early is finished you should start to use your Italian infantry more carefully, don’t charge with them and ensure they keep formation at all times, use them like chivalric sergeants after 1205. They have a large shield.

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Muwahid foot soldiers.
Charge 7 Attack 1 Defence –1 Armour 1 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 4 Cost 225 Support cost 37

Muwahid foot soldiers are very different to the other spear units. Firstly they have just 80 men instead of the usual 133. This makes it much harder to keep them in the optimal four ranks and ensures that the unit can only cover a small area. Muwahid’s have a very high charge and a good attack (for spears), when this is combined with their small number it is obvious that this spear unit is made to attack rather than defend. Set them up in for ranks and order them to hold formation, then use their high speed to get around the enemies flanks and charge them from behind. Try to let the unit reform before charging them; this will enable them to do more and take less damage. You shouldn’t charge sword units because swords will still slaughter your Muwahids even though they are more offence orientated. They have a large shield.  

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Nubian spearmen.
Charge 4 Attack 0 Defence –1 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 175 Support cost 37

Nubian spearmen are slightly different from the usual spear units because they are disciplined. This means that they are easier to control and the death of your general or routing troops that are not disciplined or elite doesn’t bother them. Otherwise Nubian spearmen are the Muslim equivalent of feudal sergeants and should be used in a similar manner. They have a small shield.  

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Order foot soldiers.
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 400 Support cost 62

Order foot soldiers are only available through crusades: you can’t build them. They are slightly better chivalric sergeants, they have higher morale and if you get them in early they will be nearly as dangerous as Italian infantry. Take a look at the sections on chivalric sergeants and Italian infantry, and then apply that knowledge to this unit. They have a large shield.

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Saracen infantry.
Charge 5 Attack –1 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 300 Support cost 50

Saracen infantry are something of a coup for the Muslims. Saracens are available to build from early and they are quite easy to reach, the advantage is that they are very similar to chivalric sergeants, so for one era the Muslims have a much better spear unit that any of the other factions, with the exception of the Italians. Use your Saracens aggressively throughout the early period and then use them defensively after 1205, take a look at the Italian infantry section for more. They have a large shield.  

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Spearmen.
Charge 5 Attack –1 Defence –1 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 150 Support cost 50

Well, someone had to come bottom of the class and spearmen have this ‘honour’. They are the weakest of the bunch in every way and there is no reason to use them as main line troops when another variety of spearman is available (if you’re the Byzantines then you will have to make do or hire mercenaries). This is your pinning unit for the times when you want to use ranged attacks that will damage your own men (e.g. naptha, close range volleys of missiles, and javelins) because they will hold the unit in place for longer than peasants and they are less likely to run away before your can finish your attack. Spearmen are also useful for pinning dangerous units that will need swarming from several directions, using them frees up better troops to do the swarming and it doesn’t matter if they take a lot of casualties. Whenever I refer to a junk unit think spearmen! So what can you do if you are forced to use spearmen, especially against more advanced units? Firstly you must always keep them on hold formation and keep them properly formed up, if they get scattered they will die fast. Secondly you should use them in combination with other units, the spearmen should take the attack while the other unit flanks and does the actual killing. Thirdly you should keep their flanks well protected as well as positioning them on high ground to guard their low morale and prevent them running. If you can you should try to keep your general nearby to get another morale bonus from him. Always endeavour to keep a single unit from routing when you are using spearmen, their morale is not up to watching their comrades fleeing and they will join the rout very quickly. They have a large shield.

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